Bought this little 1863 pocket remington today for $125!
Guy had bought it years ago and broke the loading lever with the wrong size balls and decided it was too much trouble to fool with and wanted some cash today more than he wanted to keep the gun...I couldn't pass it up so now I have a pocket pistol to add to my collection

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The guy said he had shot probably 15 to 20 shots from it before he broke the loading lever. Looking at the gun, you couldn't tell it had ever been fired...perfectly clean inside and out, cylinder indexes properly and the chambers line up right up with the barrel. The action is still a little stiff where it has not been worked much and the bluing factory perfect...except for my grubby fingerprints!

The loading lever is broke where the screw passes through, hard to see in this picture...but I'm gonna have to replace the loading lever with a new one
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Checked at vtigunparts and they are $50 each and out of stock for 6-10 weeks. But I want to shoot this little guy so I need to call on the experts with a couple of questions. First what size balls do I need for this gun so that I don't break the next loading lever? and second what powder charge should I start with?

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Beware the man with one gun, he knows how to use it

The break is right at the spot I circled, right at the thinnest part of the metal. I'm no welder but my brother in law is, I'll ask him if he can do anything with a part that small...hadn't thought about trying a weld job on it but hey it could save me 50 bucks! Thanks for the idea gary
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Beware the man with one gun, he knows how to use it

^ ^ ^ woodnbow,
I called my BIL this morning and he said that he can't do anything with a part that small, he was trained to weld big stuff like pipes. He said he probably wouldn't tear it up any worse but he wouldn't be able to fix it either. I know a local gunsmith I'll check with next week and see what he says about a cheap fix.

I'm thinking fill the chamber nearly to the rim with pyro p and seat the balls with that neat little setup and that should leave no air pockets as long as I fill the chamber so the balls set on the powder before cranking them home?

Thoughts?

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Beware the man with one gun, he knows how to use it

That is a nice little piece.
I would not have passed it up at that price either. As others have said it could be repaired by a competent smith but the cost may or may not equal the cost of a new lever. I think if the choice was mine I would want to have the original repaired. Keep us posted on your venture.

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Jim

"If a man does his best, what else is there?"
- General George S. Patton Jr

Great price for a great little gun, those .31's are a hoot to shoot. I've got the Colt clone and it takes .320 balls and the buckshot is usually harder than pure lead so harder to ram. Give us a range report. Start close to the target as mine at least shoots about a foot high at 20'.

I'd most likely build that little loader, I've got all the parts I'd need in my shop, I'll bet you do too... that way you can shoot while you're waiting for your smith to fix the loading lever properly! Win-win!!

I'm definitely going to build a loader like smokin joes (thats about the coolest gizmo I've seen, and all I need is a trip to the hardware store for a proper sized washer). Next week I'll check into getting the original rammer fixed if it costs less than a new one. If that loading setup seats the balls properly (and it really looks like it would) I most likely won't be using the onboard rammer for anything but keeping the cylinder pin in place. Really is a win - win!

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